Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom is, traditionally, the method most people in the UK
, Channel Islands
and the Isle of Man
used to receive television. Analogue terrestrial television
is currently being phased out in the UK and will be completely replaced by digital terrestrial television
by 2012.
, are available on a national basis:
While most of the UK population can receive all of the channels, not all services may be available in all areas; Channel 5, in particular, does not have as great a coverage as the other channels, with only 70% coverage compared to 99% for the other four channels (figures just before the first analogue broadcasts began to close). Furthermore, there are a number a smaller local channels available in particular areas, such as Channel M
, which is available in Manchester
, and Six TV
, which is available in Oxford, Southampton, Reading and Portsmouth. BBC One and BBC Two both have some regional programmes, such as the local news. The ITV Network is made up of a number of regional operators, though most are now owned by ITV plc
and virtually indistinguishable from each other as they all broadcast the nearly identical output and do not use their regional names onscreen any more.
service. This includes subtitles for many programmes.
requirement in terms of their output.
(British Broadcasting Corporation) began a regular television service, one of the first in the world, in 1936 as the BBC Television Service, funded to this day by a yearly mandatory licence fee
. Since 1964, the BBC have provided two analogue television services, BBC One
and BBC Two
. Both services carried a wide variety of content, as well as regional variations in programming, and sometimes continuity
. Such variations have been scaled down in latter years on BBC Two, such that the only variants for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the areas where BBC1 historically provides the most variants, are catered for. For many years, BBC1 in Wales was effectively a separate service, BBC Wales
, though many programmes were common to both it and BBC1 proper.
(Independent Television) was established in 1954 to provide a commercial alternative to the BBC. Programmes would be funded through the 'selling' of air-time for the playing of advertisements, and the broadcasters, the first of which began broadcasting in 1955, would be privately owned. Nonetheless, the television act which established what became popularly referred to as ITV
, placed many restrictions on what these private companies could broadcast, types of programmes they were obliged to broadcast, how many hours a day or week they could broadcast for, how much advertising time could be sold, and even who could own the operating companies. An Independent Television Authority
, (superseded by the Independent Broadcasting Authority
) would choose the companies licensed to broadcast on a periodic basis, and administer the various obligations and restrictions described above. Each company would be (and nominally still is) afforded a 'franchise' to broadcast to a specific coverage area of the UK, with larger areas having originally had two broadcasters, one for the week and one for the weekend, though this practice ended outside of London in 1968.
Because the ITA were only given one frequency to license in any one given area, most viewers would only receive one service (unless they happened to receive signals from two transmitters in different areas), though each regional broadcaster would often broadcast unique programmes, continuity and adverts, a practise performed far less today but that is nonetheless still apparent, and required. Originally each company would broadcast with their own, unique station name, such as "Yorkshire Television
" or "Associated Rediffusion", and it wasn't until the late 1980s that popular use of the name "ITV" was used on screen. ITV Broadcasters would sell major programmes to one another, for 'network' play-out nation-wide, or to the majority of the nation, and for most of its history, ITV would have a shared, single schedule for much of its air-time.
Subsequent relaxations on the requirements and restrictions placed upon the ITV companies now mean that one company, ITV plc
own and operate the majority of the franchises, and broadcasts under the name ITV1
. A company, STV Group plc, own two franchises in Scotland, and broadcasts as STV, whilst UTV
broadcast to Northern Ireland under that name and Channel Television
broadcast to the Channel Islands
, as ITV1. GMTV
owned the franchise to broadcast a national breakfast service, under that name. But over the years the controllers of ITV
in England and Wales, now merged Carlton
and Granada
, sought to control the whole day's schedule and steadily increased their stake in GMTV
until they had a 100% share. GMTV
is now legally ITV Breakfast
. Ofcom
now regulate ITV, and its formal name is now Channel 3, though this name is only used legally, and not on-screen.
For many years, the ITA, IBA and the ITV companies campaigned for further frequencies on which to broadcast, though these goals were never wholly realised on analogue.
and S4C
were launched in 1982. Channel 4 was originally run as a uniform national service, by the IBA itself, through a subsidiary called the Channel Four Broadcasting Company. Channel 4 would not make the programmes it broadcast, and all content was, and still is, commissioned from independent, private production companies, such as the ITV companies, but also companies not related to ITV who had previously little space to broadcast in the UK. Channel 4 would be funded by allowing each local ITV franchisee to sell adverts during the station's airtime in their area, in exchange for a guaranteed income to be paid to the IBA. The station was established with the intention to provide programmes for minority groups and cater for specialist interests, and has a remit that details these obligations.
Since the abolition of the IBA, taking effect in 1993, Channel 4 has been run by the publicly owned, Channel Four Broadcasting Corporation, and manages its own advertising.
S4C began broadcasts the day before Channel 4, after many demands for a dedicated Welsh-language service for Wales. Previously ITV and the BBC were obliged to air Welsh language programmes, though these were often shown at inconvenient times of the day, and upset English speakers by taking English programming off the schedules. The new S4C would broadcast only in Wales, in place of Channel 4. S4C is operated by the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority
, independent of the IBA or latterly Ofcom, and is funded through advertising and direct government funding. Furthermore, the BBC airs its Welsh language programmes on the service, which are funded by the licence fee.
S4C ceased broadcasting on analogue at the end of March 2010, when the last analogue television transmissions in Wales ended. Until that point, Channel 4 did not have an analogue service in Wales, and as such some Channel 4 programmes were aired during off-peak times on S4C. As digital platforms provide both services, S4C's digital variant does not follow this practise.
The Channel 5 licence has one single licensee and provides a nation-wide service. Compared to the other analogue broadcasters, it has relatively few public-service obligations, provision of news programming being one exception. Limited space within the analogue television bands, means Channel 5 has substantially reduced coverage compared to the other networks, at around 70% coverage.
. These occupy channels unused by the other broadcasters that can be used without causing interference in other regions, and are frequently broadcast at a lower power than the major channels. Their output is mainly local, and each contract for an RSL lasted four years until 2004 when media regulator Ofcom
stated that each licence will be renewed up until digital switchover.
Television broadcasting began on an experimental basis by the BBC
in London in 1936 on VHF Band I
. Initially the service was operated using two competing systems:
The earliest television broadcasts used the 240-line Baird system and the 405-line
Marconi-EMI system on alternate weeks. However, the Baird system proved too cumbersome and by early 1937 had been dropped and the Marconi-EMI system became the standard. This system was later codified by the ITU
's CCIR (now ITU-R
) on an international conference in Stockholm
in 1961 as System A.
Different broadcast stations across the country broadcast on different channels to avoid interference and allow for regional variations
.
Broadcast was suspended during the Second World War but resumed in 1946. The BBC was joined on this system in 1955 with the launch of commercial television in the form of the regional Independent Television
(ITV) network, managed by the Independent Television Authority
(ITA), which also saw the use of VHF Band III
.
This was the sole system in existence until the preparations for the introduction of 625-line transmission in 1964 and was put out of use at the start of 1985.
1964 saw the launch of a third television service, known as BBC2
, and with it the introduction of the analogue system of broadcast still used to this day - the 625 lined service on UHF
Bands IV
and V
. Whilst the extra lines theoretically offered better resolution and picture clarity, the fledgling network of new transmitters required to provide the service offered far inferior coverage compared with the existing VHF services and was prone to increased interference often resulting in poor picture quality. Furthermore, few people had the new sets required to receive the new service or the different type of aerial required to pick up the UHF signal.
and American NTSC
systems, the latter generally considered superior and expected to be adopted. Throughout the 1960s a third competing system, PAL
, became available and was eventually adopted by the GPO for use on the 625 lined service, to be known as System I or PAL-I.
Broadcast on this system officially commenced in 1967 with BBC2's (and the UK's) launch of colour television programming, though previous years had seen many unofficial colour test films outside of official broadcasting hours, including some which trialled NTSC and SECAM. BBC2 was joined in 1969 by BBC 1
and the main ITV
franchises (the rest following in stages into the 1970s). Both BBC1 and ITV continued to broadcast simultaneously on the VHF system A until 1985
NICAM
Without affecting the definition of the "PAL
-I" system, the UK also uses a digital stereo companding system on analogue terrestrial television called NICAM. Standing for Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex and used for digital stereo TV broadcasts to the public, it used the NICAM
digital audio system used since the early 1970s for transmitting the audio carrier signal of a broadcast between two or more regional broadcasters and sometimes to the transmitters, where it was converted back to an analogue FM audio carrier almost 6Mhz above the video carrier signal.
Reception of the NICAM signal provided the user had a VCR or a TV capable of decoding the NICAM signal, which was broadcast on a carrier 6.552 Mhz above the video carrier, and thus just 0.552 Mhz above the FM mono audio carrier. The first UK NICAM stereo broadcast was made in May 1986 on BBC2
, NICAM slowly being rolled out across the UK and across the broadcaster's programme schedules over the next 5 years, culminating in the official launch of NICAM on the BBC in 1991, ITV and Channel 4 having begun broadcasting NICAM in 1989 and 1990 respectively.
The service is sometimes referred to by its full, official, name, NICAM-728 - the 728 denoting the datarate of the digital stereo information - the datarate is 728Kbps, non-PCM.
. The fourth network didn't come into being until the Broadcasting Act 1980
created Channel 4 and S4C. This early provision meant that near complete coverage was afforded to both networks at launch, in 1982.
When Channel 5 launched in 1997 a general lack of provision for the network led to the release of extra UHF channels which caused potential interference with many domestic VCRs. This required a massive equipment retuning exercise to be undertaken at the broadcaster's expense. The extra channels still did not go far enough in affording Channel Five the level of coverage enjoyed by the other broadcasters.
has been set up to handle the change. The switch will be on a region by region basis using the ITV regions as a basis. The schedule was announced by Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
, Tessa Jowell
on 15 September 2005 at the Royal Television Society
Cambridge Convention.
No date was announced for the fifteenth ITV region, Channel Television
. Under the original proposals it would convert last, after UTV, however Channel Television switched on 17 November 2010.
Some concern has been raised that the London region will be switched shortly before the city hosts the Olympic Games
. Jowell said "I can assure you that I did not slog for two years to bring the games here just to see Londoners reduced to huddling round the wireless to find out who won the hundred metres, I am completely confident that our timetable is a sensible one which will ensure that digital services are delivered with no disruption to the viewing public during the Games themselves."
It was also announced that a support scheme will be put in place to ensure that no one is left behind in the switch. It will provide help with equipment and installation and follow-up support for people aged 75 years and over and people with significant disabilities. The scheme will be funded by the BBC through the licence fee. Help will be free for the most needy, with a small change levied for others.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
used to receive television. Analogue terrestrial television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
is currently being phased out in the UK and will be completely replaced by digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom
Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the UK's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television aerial...
by 2012.
Channels available
The following channels, all of which are free-to-airFree-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
, are available on a national basis:
- BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
- BBC TwoBBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
- ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
(made up of a number of regional franchises) - Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
(S4CS4CS4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
in Wales before analogue services closed there.) - Channel 5
While most of the UK population can receive all of the channels, not all services may be available in all areas; Channel 5, in particular, does not have as great a coverage as the other channels, with only 70% coverage compared to 99% for the other four channels (figures just before the first analogue broadcasts began to close). Furthermore, there are a number a smaller local channels available in particular areas, such as Channel M
Channel m
Channel M is a regional television station, based in Manchester, England. It began broadcasting on 14 February 2000 as Manchester Student Television and is owned and operated by the Guardian Media Group.-Coverage:...
, which is available in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and Six TV
Six TV
Six TV was the sixth free to air terrestrial television channel in the UK, broadcast in Oxford, Southampton, Reading and Portsmouth. It operated under a set of Restricted Service Licences and broadcast on UHF channel 47 in Oxford and UHF channel 29 in Southampton...
, which is available in Oxford, Southampton, Reading and Portsmouth. BBC One and BBC Two both have some regional programmes, such as the local news. The ITV Network is made up of a number of regional operators, though most are now owned by ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
and virtually indistinguishable from each other as they all broadcast the nearly identical output and do not use their regional names onscreen any more.
Additional services
All channels carry or carried at least one teletextTeletext
Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules...
service. This includes subtitles for many programmes.
Broadcasters
The terrestrial analogue services themselves are in most cases unique when compared to most non-analogue broadcast services (such as those available via digital satellite), in that they are much older, contain a much more diverse range of programming, rather than centring around a specific genre (all five major stations carry news bulletins, for example) and all hold some form of public servicePublic broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
requirement in terms of their output.
BBC
The BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
(British Broadcasting Corporation) began a regular television service, one of the first in the world, in 1936 as the BBC Television Service, funded to this day by a yearly mandatory licence fee
Television licence
A television licence is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts...
. Since 1964, the BBC have provided two analogue television services, BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
and BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
. Both services carried a wide variety of content, as well as regional variations in programming, and sometimes continuity
Continuity (broadcasting)
'Continuity' or 'presentation' is a term used in broadcasting, especially in the United Kingdom , to refer to announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes...
. Such variations have been scaled down in latter years on BBC Two, such that the only variants for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the areas where BBC1 historically provides the most variants, are catered for. For many years, BBC1 in Wales was effectively a separate service, BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
, though many programmes were common to both it and BBC1 proper.
ITV
ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
(Independent Television) was established in 1954 to provide a commercial alternative to the BBC. Programmes would be funded through the 'selling' of air-time for the playing of advertisements, and the broadcasters, the first of which began broadcasting in 1955, would be privately owned. Nonetheless, the television act which established what became popularly referred to as ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, placed many restrictions on what these private companies could broadcast, types of programmes they were obliged to broadcast, how many hours a day or week they could broadcast for, how much advertising time could be sold, and even who could own the operating companies. An Independent Television Authority
Independent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" , the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom...
, (superseded by the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
) would choose the companies licensed to broadcast on a periodic basis, and administer the various obligations and restrictions described above. Each company would be (and nominally still is) afforded a 'franchise' to broadcast to a specific coverage area of the UK, with larger areas having originally had two broadcasters, one for the week and one for the weekend, though this practice ended outside of London in 1968.
Because the ITA were only given one frequency to license in any one given area, most viewers would only receive one service (unless they happened to receive signals from two transmitters in different areas), though each regional broadcaster would often broadcast unique programmes, continuity and adverts, a practise performed far less today but that is nonetheless still apparent, and required. Originally each company would broadcast with their own, unique station name, such as "Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
" or "Associated Rediffusion", and it wasn't until the late 1980s that popular use of the name "ITV" was used on screen. ITV Broadcasters would sell major programmes to one another, for 'network' play-out nation-wide, or to the majority of the nation, and for most of its history, ITV would have a shared, single schedule for much of its air-time.
Subsequent relaxations on the requirements and restrictions placed upon the ITV companies now mean that one company, ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
own and operate the majority of the franchises, and broadcasts under the name ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
. A company, STV Group plc, own two franchises in Scotland, and broadcasts as STV, whilst UTV
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
broadcast to Northern Ireland under that name and Channel Television
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
broadcast to the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
, as ITV1. GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
owned the franchise to broadcast a national breakfast service, under that name. But over the years the controllers of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in England and Wales, now merged Carlton
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
and Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, sought to control the whole day's schedule and steadily increased their stake in GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
until they had a 100% share. GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
is now legally ITV Breakfast
ITV Breakfast
ITV Breakfast Limited is the national ITV breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom...
. Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
now regulate ITV, and its formal name is now Channel 3, though this name is only used legally, and not on-screen.
For many years, the ITA, IBA and the ITV companies campaigned for further frequencies on which to broadcast, though these goals were never wholly realised on analogue.
Channel 4 and S4C
After many decades of demand by the commercial broadcasters for a second commercial station, or network of stations, Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
were launched in 1982. Channel 4 was originally run as a uniform national service, by the IBA itself, through a subsidiary called the Channel Four Broadcasting Company. Channel 4 would not make the programmes it broadcast, and all content was, and still is, commissioned from independent, private production companies, such as the ITV companies, but also companies not related to ITV who had previously little space to broadcast in the UK. Channel 4 would be funded by allowing each local ITV franchisee to sell adverts during the station's airtime in their area, in exchange for a guaranteed income to be paid to the IBA. The station was established with the intention to provide programmes for minority groups and cater for specialist interests, and has a remit that details these obligations.
Since the abolition of the IBA, taking effect in 1993, Channel 4 has been run by the publicly owned, Channel Four Broadcasting Corporation, and manages its own advertising.
S4C began broadcasts the day before Channel 4, after many demands for a dedicated Welsh-language service for Wales. Previously ITV and the BBC were obliged to air Welsh language programmes, though these were often shown at inconvenient times of the day, and upset English speakers by taking English programming off the schedules. The new S4C would broadcast only in Wales, in place of Channel 4. S4C is operated by the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority
Welsh Fourth Channel Authority
The Welsh Fourth Channel Authority regulates S4C , the Welsh-language television station of Wales. It is not connected to Ofcom, or any other regulator, and exists purely to ensure the quality of the channel. The Authority's Chair and members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture,...
, independent of the IBA or latterly Ofcom, and is funded through advertising and direct government funding. Furthermore, the BBC airs its Welsh language programmes on the service, which are funded by the licence fee.
S4C ceased broadcasting on analogue at the end of March 2010, when the last analogue television transmissions in Wales ended. Until that point, Channel 4 did not have an analogue service in Wales, and as such some Channel 4 programmes were aired during off-peak times on S4C. As digital platforms provide both services, S4C's digital variant does not follow this practise.
Channel 5
A fifth service was licensed during the 1990s and began broadcasts in 1997, called Channel 5, it has since been re-branded as Five and later back to Channel 5 in August 2010.The Channel 5 licence has one single licensee and provides a nation-wide service. Compared to the other analogue broadcasters, it has relatively few public-service obligations, provision of news programming being one exception. Limited space within the analogue television bands, means Channel 5 has substantially reduced coverage compared to the other networks, at around 70% coverage.
Restricted service licences
In addition to the five national networks, a limited number of local stations are broadcast to various towns and cities under what is known as a Restricted Service LicenceRestricted Service Licence
A UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...
. These occupy channels unused by the other broadcasters that can be used without causing interference in other regions, and are frequently broadcast at a lower power than the major channels. Their output is mainly local, and each contract for an RSL lasted four years until 2004 when media regulator Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
stated that each licence will be renewed up until digital switchover.
405 lined system
| Ch | Video (MHz) | Audio (MHz) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45.00 | 41.50 |
| 2 | 51.75 | 48.25 |
| 3 | 56.75 | 53.25 |
| 4 | 61.75 | 58.25 |
| 5 | 66.75 | 63.25 |
| 6 | 179.75 | 176.25 |
| 7 | 184.75 | 181.25 |
| 8 | 189.75 | 186.25 |
| 9 | 194.75 | 191.25 |
| 10 | 199.75 | 196.25 |
| 11 | 204.75 | 201.25 |
| 12 | 209.75 | 206.25 |
| 13 | 214.75 | 211.25 |
Television broadcasting began on an experimental basis by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in London in 1936 on VHF Band I
Band I
Band I is the name of a radio frequency range within the very high frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum.Band I ranges from 47 to 88 MHz, and it is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting....
. Initially the service was operated using two competing systems:
The earliest television broadcasts used the 240-line Baird system and the 405-line
405-line
The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting....
Marconi-EMI system on alternate weeks. However, the Baird system proved too cumbersome and by early 1937 had been dropped and the Marconi-EMI system became the standard. This system was later codified by the ITU
Itu
Itu is an old and historic municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2009 was 157,384 and the area is 641.68 km². The elevation is 583 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language, meaning big waterfall. Itu is linked with the highway numbered the SP-75 and are flowed...
's CCIR (now ITU-R
ITU-R
The ITU Radiocommunication Sector is one of the three sectors of the International Telecommunication Union and is responsible for radio communication....
) on an international conference in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1961 as System A.
Different broadcast stations across the country broadcast on different channels to avoid interference and allow for regional variations
Regional variations (television)
A regional variation generally refers to times when a radio station or television station simultaneously broadcasts different programmes, continuity or adverts to different parts of its coverage area...
.
Broadcast was suspended during the Second World War but resumed in 1946. The BBC was joined on this system in 1955 with the launch of commercial television in the form of the regional Independent Television
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
(ITV) network, managed by the Independent Television Authority
Independent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" , the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom...
(ITA), which also saw the use of VHF Band III
Band III
Band III is the name of a radio frequency range within the very high frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum.Band III ranges from 174 to 230 MHz, and it is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting...
.
This was the sole system in existence until the preparations for the introduction of 625-line transmission in 1964 and was put out of use at the start of 1985.
625 lined system
| Ch | Video (MHz) | Audio (MHz) |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | 471.25 | 477.25 |
| 22 | 479.25 | 485.25 |
| 23 | 487.25 | 493.25 |
| 24 | 495.25 | 501.25 |
| 25 | 503.25 | 509.25 |
| 26 | 511.25 | 517.25 |
| 27 | 519.25 | 525.25 |
| 28 | 527.25 | 533.25 |
| 29 | 535.25 | 541.25 |
| 30 | 543.25 | 549.25 |
| 31 | 551.25 | 557.25 |
| 32 | 559.25 | 565.25 |
| 33 | 567.25 | 573.25 |
| 34 | 575.25 | 581.25 |
| 35* | 583.25 | 589.25 |
| 36* | 591.25 | 597.25 |
| 37* | 599.25 | 605.25 |
| 38* | 607.25 | 613.25 |
| 39 | 615.25 | 621.25 |
| 40 | 623.25 | 629.25 |
| 41 | 631.25 | 637.25 |
| 42 | 639.25 | 645.25 |
| 43 | 647.25 | 653.25 |
| 44 | 655.25 | 661.25 |
| 45 | 663.25 | 669.25 |
| 46 | 671.25 | 677.25 |
| 47 | 679.25 | 685.25 |
| 48 | 687.25 | 693.25 |
| 49 | 695.25 | 701.25 |
| 50 | 703.25 | 709.25 |
| 51 | 711.25 | 717.25 |
| 52 | 719.25 | 725.25 |
| 53 | 727.25 | 733.25 |
| 54 | 735.25 | 741.25 |
| 55 | 743.25 | 749.25 |
| 56 | 751.25 | 757.25 |
| 57 | 759.25 | 765.25 |
| 58 | 767.25 | 773.25 |
| 59 | 775.25 | 781.25 |
| 60 | 783.25 | 789.25 |
| 61 | 791.25 | 797.25 |
| 62 | 799.25 | 805.25 |
| 63 | 807.25 | 813.25 |
| 64 | 815.25 | 821.25 |
| 65 | 823.25 | 829.25 |
| 66 | 831.25 | 837.25 |
| 67 | 839.25 | 845.25 |
| 68 | 847.25 | 853.25 |
1964 saw the launch of a third television service, known as BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, and with it the introduction of the analogue system of broadcast still used to this day - the 625 lined service on UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
Bands IV
Band IV
Band IV is the name of a radio frequency range within the ultra high frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum.Sources differ on the exact frequency range of the band. For example, the Swiss Federal Office of Communications, the Broadcast engineer's reference book and Ericsson India Ltd all...
and V
Band V
Band V is the name of a radio frequency range within the ultra high frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is not to be confused with the V band in the extremely high frequency part of the spectrum....
. Whilst the extra lines theoretically offered better resolution and picture clarity, the fledgling network of new transmitters required to provide the service offered far inferior coverage compared with the existing VHF services and was prone to increased interference often resulting in poor picture quality. Furthermore, few people had the new sets required to receive the new service or the different type of aerial required to pick up the UHF signal.
Colour
During the late 1950s, when the decision to introduce colour television was first seriously mooted, the then two main systems for consideration were the French SECAMSECAM
SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France....
and American NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
systems, the latter generally considered superior and expected to be adopted. Throughout the 1960s a third competing system, PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
, became available and was eventually adopted by the GPO for use on the 625 lined service, to be known as System I or PAL-I.
Broadcast on this system officially commenced in 1967 with BBC2's (and the UK's) launch of colour television programming, though previous years had seen many unofficial colour test films outside of official broadcasting hours, including some which trialled NTSC and SECAM. BBC2 was joined in 1969 by BBC 1
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
and the main ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
franchises (the rest following in stages into the 1970s). Both BBC1 and ITV continued to broadcast simultaneously on the VHF system A until 1985
NICAMNICAMNear Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex is an early form of lossy compression for digital audio. It was originally developed in the early 1970s for point-to-point links within broadcasting networks...
-728 Digital stereo
Without affecting the definition of the "PALPAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
-I" system, the UK also uses a digital stereo companding system on analogue terrestrial television called NICAM. Standing for Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex and used for digital stereo TV broadcasts to the public, it used the NICAM
NICAM
Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex is an early form of lossy compression for digital audio. It was originally developed in the early 1970s for point-to-point links within broadcasting networks...
digital audio system used since the early 1970s for transmitting the audio carrier signal of a broadcast between two or more regional broadcasters and sometimes to the transmitters, where it was converted back to an analogue FM audio carrier almost 6Mhz above the video carrier signal.
Reception of the NICAM signal provided the user had a VCR or a TV capable of decoding the NICAM signal, which was broadcast on a carrier 6.552 Mhz above the video carrier, and thus just 0.552 Mhz above the FM mono audio carrier. The first UK NICAM stereo broadcast was made in May 1986 on BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, NICAM slowly being rolled out across the UK and across the broadcaster's programme schedules over the next 5 years, culminating in the official launch of NICAM on the BBC in 1991, ITV and Channel 4 having begun broadcasting NICAM in 1989 and 1990 respectively.
The service is sometimes referred to by its full, official, name, NICAM-728 - the 728 denoting the datarate of the digital stereo information - the datarate is 728Kbps, non-PCM.
Channel allocations
The 625 lined system divided the spectrum into 44 channels, 21-34 and 39-68 (Bands IV and V). These channels were allocated, by the GPO, to the broadcasters to allow for four networks to operate with eventual maximum coverage and minimum cross-network interference. The two BBC channels and the ITV network were catered for, as well as space for a future fourth network, at the time expected to be a second network for the ITAIndependent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" , the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom...
. The fourth network didn't come into being until the Broadcasting Act 1980
Broadcasting Act 1980
The Broadcasting Act 1980 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It was repealed by the Broadcasting Act 1981, though the provisions of the Act remained in force....
created Channel 4 and S4C. This early provision meant that near complete coverage was afforded to both networks at launch, in 1982.
When Channel 5 launched in 1997 a general lack of provision for the network led to the release of extra UHF channels which caused potential interference with many domestic VCRs. This required a massive equipment retuning exercise to be undertaken at the broadcaster's expense. The extra channels still did not go far enough in affording Channel Five the level of coverage enjoyed by the other broadcasters.
Digital switch-over
The government is committed to switching terrestrial television broadcasting to fully digital by 2012. The digital network will feature six multiplexes at each of the 80 main nodes, at other nodes there will be only three multiplexes because fewer broadcasters are interested in the less densely populated regions. A company called Digital UKDigital UK
Digital UK is the body in charge of the digital switchover of television in the United Kingdom.Digital UK communicates switchover to the public, works with industry to build support for the switchover programme, and co-ordinates engineering work across the UK broadcast network...
has been set up to handle the change. The switch will be on a region by region basis using the ITV regions as a basis. The schedule was announced by Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport is a United Kingdom cabinet position with responsibility for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The role was created in 1992 by John Major as Secretary of State for National Heritage...
, Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jowell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood since 1992. Formerly a member of both the Blair and Brown Cabinets, she is currently the Shadow Minister for the Olympics and Shadow Minister for London.-Early life:Tessa Jane...
on 15 September 2005 at the Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Cambridge Convention.
| Regional order | ITV Region | Proposed date | Complete |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Border Border Television Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria... |
2008 (second half) | |
| 2nd | Westcountry Westcountry Television Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993... |
2009 (first half) | |
| 3rd | Wales HTV HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968... |
2009 (second half) | |
| 4th | Granada Granada Television Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful.... |
2009 (second half) | |
| 5th | West HTV HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968... |
2010 (first half) | |
| 6th | STV North Grampian Television Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife... |
2010 (first half) | |
| 7th | STV Central Scottish Television Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active... |
2010 (second half) 2011 (first half) |
|
| 8th | Central Central Independent Television Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting... |
2011 (first/second half) | |
| 9th | Yorkshire Yorkshire Television Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network... |
2011 (first half) | |
| 10th | Anglia Anglia Television Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional... |
2011 (first half) | |
| 11th | Meridian Meridian Broadcasting Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited.... |
2012 (first half) | |
| 12th | London ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the two Channel 3 broadcast franchises, Carlton Television and London Weekend Television in the London ITV region.-History:... (weekdays Carlton Television Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,... /weekends London Weekend Television London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and... ) |
2012 (first half) | |
| 13th | Tyne Tees Tyne Tees Television Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region... |
2012 (first half) | |
| 14th | UTV UTV UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3... |
2012 (second half) |
No date was announced for the fifteenth ITV region, Channel Television
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
. Under the original proposals it would convert last, after UTV, however Channel Television switched on 17 November 2010.
Some concern has been raised that the London region will be switched shortly before the city hosts the Olympic Games
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. Jowell said "I can assure you that I did not slog for two years to bring the games here just to see Londoners reduced to huddling round the wireless to find out who won the hundred metres, I am completely confident that our timetable is a sensible one which will ensure that digital services are delivered with no disruption to the viewing public during the Games themselves."
It was also announced that a support scheme will be put in place to ensure that no one is left behind in the switch. It will provide help with equipment and installation and follow-up support for people aged 75 years and over and people with significant disabilities. The scheme will be funded by the BBC through the licence fee. Help will be free for the most needy, with a small change levied for others.